Not for nuthin'…. But….. the Head of the Charles opens this morning in the rain. It's the 61st running of what the Boston Globe calls the world's largest three-day rowing competition, Friday through Sunday on the river between Boston and Cambridge. Friday is the soggy one. On Wednesday I wrote about "forever chemicals" turning up in 87% of Massachusetts waterways tested. Today's question is simpler, and it's one every rower on the Charles asks after a storm: what did the rain just wash into the river?
The weekend forecast
The National Weather Service in Boston calls for rain showers and patchy fog in Cambridge today from about 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Highs near 70, south wind gusting to 30 mph, and a tenth to a quarter inch of rain, with more showers likely tonight. Saturday brings a chance of early showers, then partly sunny skies, a high near 51 and a northwest wind gusting to 30. Sunday looks like the pick: sunny, a high near 55 and a light breeze. Per the Globe, Friday's racing runs only in the morning.
Why rain matters on the Charles
- Runoff. Rain washes everything off the streets, parking lots and lawns into the storm drains, and many of those drain straight to the river. The Charles River Watershed Association (CRWA) says high E. coli levels come after storms.
- Sewer overflows. Parts of Boston and Cambridge still have old combined sewers that carry stormwater and sewage in the same pipe. In heavy rain they overflow into the river. CRWA counts 10 active combined sewer overflow (CSO) outfalls that routinely discharge into the Charles, run by the MWRA and the cities of Cambridge and Somerville. CRWA notes a CSO can carry bacteria, viruses, pharmaceuticals, trash and PFAS, the same forever chemicals from Wednesday's post.
- The 48-hour rule. The MWRA says public health officials recommend avoiding contact with the water during rainstorms and for 48 hours afterward.
Watch the flags
CRWA runs a Flagging Program with color-coded flags at boathouses from Watertown to Boston. A blue flag means boating conditions are suitable. A red flag means avoid contact with the river. Red flags go up when CRWA's models predict E. coli above the state standard (the models use rainfall and river flow), when there's a cyanobacteria bloom, or downstream of a CSO discharge, where they fly for 48 hours. As of 3 a.m. today, before the rain, the models showed blue at every boathouse. Check again before you go out this weekend at crwa-flagging.herokuapp.com.
The report card: a long way from a D
Here's the good news. When the EPA issued its first Charles River report card in 1995, the lower river got a D. The EPA's most recent grade, for 2025, gave the Lower Basin a B-, down a notch from a B in 2024, mostly because of last year's cyanobacteria bloom. CRWA says the middle river earned A's and Boston's Muddy River got a C. It notes that progress has "largely stalled or declined slightly" upstream, while the urban stretches keep improving slowly. Paved places get lower grades, and stormwater is the reason.
Practical takeaways
- Rowing or paddling this weekend? Check the flag at your boathouse. Keep river water out of your mouth and away from cuts, and wash up afterward.
- Watching from the bridges? Dress for wind on Saturday, and bring the sunglasses Sunday.
- Want the alerts? Sign up for CRWA's email alerts and the MWRA, Boston Water and Sewer and Cambridge sewage notifications. Under the 2021 Sewage Notification Law, the public must be notified within two hours of a discharge.
- At home: Every gutter downspout aimed at a lawn instead of the driveway, and every rain barrel, keeps a little runoff out of the storm drains. Pick up after the dog. It all heads downhill.
MOAM's take
Thirty years ago nobody wanted to fall in the Charles. Now thousands of rowers come from all over the world to race on it, and a crew of women over 80 is making history in an eight this year. That didn't happen by accident. It took pipes, permits and a lot of stubborn volunteers taking water samples. Rain still finds the weak spots, and the old sewers still overflow. Whatever your politics, a river you can row on is worth finishing the job.
Heading to the river this weekend? Rain on Friday or sun on Sunday? Tell me in the comments.
Sources: Boston Globe, "Boston weather will be rainy, blustery for Head of the Charles" (Oct. 14, 2026); NWS Boston/Norton forecast for Cambridge (issued Oct. 16, 2026); CRWA Flagging Program and live flag page (Oct. 16, 2026, 3 a.m.); CRWA, "Combined Sewer Overflows"; MWRA, CSO Notifications; U.S. EPA, "History of Human Impacts on Charles River"; CRWA, "How clean is the Charles? Understanding the 2025 Charles River Report Card" (May 2026); CBS Boston (Oct. 15, 2026).
— John Nestor
Nanepashemet Real Estate Services, Marblehead
MOAM Out.
#HeadOfTheCharles #CharlesRiver #CleanWater #Rowing #Boston #Massachusetts
No comments:
Post a Comment